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Perceptions of Body Weight Among Older Adults: Analyses of the Intersection of Gender, Race, and Socioeconomic Status

¹ Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Canada.
² Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin.
³ Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Canada.

Address Correspondence to Scott Schieman, PhD, University of Toronto, Department of Sociology, 725 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2J4, Canada. E-mail: scott.schieman{at}utoronto.ca

Objectives. We examine the effects of gender, race, and socioeconomic status (SES) on perceptions of body weight among older adults and the role of status-based differences in BMI in these processes.

Methods. Data are derived from face-to-face interviews with 1,164 adults aged 65 years and older in the District of Columbia and two counties in Maryland in 2000-2001.

Results. With "perceived appropriate weight" as the comparison group, multinomial logistic regression analyses indicate that white adults, women, and high-SES individuals are more likely than black adults, men, and low-SES individuals to describe themselves as overweight or obese. However, these disparities are observed only after statistically adjusting for race, gender, and SES disparities in BMI. Moreover, the positive effect of SES on the likelihood of reporting overweight or obese perceptions is strongest among black women. Among low SES individuals, white women are more likely than men and black women to describe themselves as obese (relative to the "perceived appropriate weight" category).

Discussion. Our observations underscore the importance of taking SES contingencies into account when exploring race-gender differences in perceived body weight. This study further contributes to the literature by documenting the important suppression patterns associated with race, gender, and SES differences in BMI.